Philippos Georgiou, who works at Georges Barber in Kentish Town Road, said he saw the 27-year-old, but had not realised who she was at the time.

“I walked past her and didn’t realise it was Taylor Swift. She was tall and beautiful, but I just thought it was a model.”

He added: “She had nice eyes.”

A neighbour in Leverton Street said they had “no idea”, it was Taylor Swift, but added: “There was security at both ends of the road, so I realised it was a name and not some low budget thing.

“It was a big production, a crew of about 30. A fella came to ask if he could stick a photographer in our bedroom to take some production shots, but I said no, as our daughter was asleep in there.”

William Borrell, owner of Ladies and Gents bar at the junction of Kentish Town Road and Fortess Road, said the operation had been “extremely secretive,” adding: “I know that the residents around there were forced to sign NDAs [Non-Disclosure Agreements], so they can’t talk about it.”

He said: “They had about 150 people, they just descended on the road, they didn’t have a permit, but that’s cool, you have got to do these things some times.

“We had a couple of models come down to the bar because they were a bit bored. We have some non-alcoholic gin that we make and they liked that.”

Staff at the bar said that Taylor Swift was “offered a martini and smiled”.

Mr Borrell, whose brother Johnny is the lead singer of indie band Razorlight, added: “We are very lucky at the bar, because, not naming names, we get a lot of celebrities, people who star in Homeland and Game of Thrones. The coolest thing is you can just let them live there lives and don’t take a selfie.”

Other Kentish Towners expressed their surprise online at having missed the star’s visit.

Rebecca Reid tweeted: “TAYLOR SWIFT MY BELOVED AND MOST PRECIOUS JEWEL WAS IN KENTISH TOWN AND I DIDN’T KNOW.”

Alice Johnson replied: “This is exactly what I said last night WHY DID I NOT FEEL HER PRESENCE BEAMING DOWN THE STREET TOWARDS MY OPEN LIVING ROOM WINDOW.”